I've listened through this again, and I must again state that I prefer the Fischer (Channel Classics) , Macal/Czech Phil. (Exton), and Markus Stenz (Oehms) M4 recordings to this one. I agree that the playing and the sound are very good. I find Honeck's "interpretation" to be a tad extreme, and a bit clone-Abbado/VPO, and clone-Maazel/VPO. I'll explain.
Much like the Abbado/VPO M4 from the '70s, Honeck places the solo horn, as well as the tutti horns, way, waaaay forward in the balances. That's fine - I don't really have a problem with that (I love horns!), but some of the woodwind detail suffers as a result. Sometimes oboes and clarinets sound quite distant for my liking in this particular symphony (oddly enough, the bassoons are fine). Also, timpani and bass drum are a bit too forward for my liking as well. Huge bass drum rolls? . . . yes, I love them at the end of M1, and throughout M3. But in M4, it overbalances everything else. Thus, in a sense, this recording has sort of "old" Austro/German ideas of balances, and of what to emphasize, in Austro/German music: strings, brass (particularly horns), and timpani. Especially in M4, I prefer the more Concertgebouw/Czech Phil./N.Y. Phil. concept of bringing the woodwinds farther forward, and not building a new Amish barn every time the timpani enter.
This also resembles the Abbado/VPO M4 in terms of tempo and tempo relationships as well. In the first movement, for example, Honeck makes a huge meal out of the various gear shifts throughout. It doesn't sound disjointed, but it does come across as a tad intense and extreme for my liking in this particular symphony. Compare the very beginning of the piece between Honeck and Markus Stenz: Stenz starts out far slower with the sleigh bell introduction, then speeds up just slightly when the strings enter. But instead of constantly pulling the tempo back and forth (Honeck, Abbado), Stenz allows everything to build up to the "happy" clarinet tune, some 45 seconds into the movement (or so). Honeck, on the other hand, does the sleigh bell into. very quickly, then has to slow down a tad for the violins' entrance. Then we have lots of speeding up and slowing down, as already mentioned.
The string playing in the slow movement is quite gorgeous, but the climax is a bit too protracted for my liking as well. The timpani pound as though building the Brooklyn Bridge too. This climax is where Honeck suddenly becomes Maazel, as well in the final, slow paced stanzas of the last movement ("kein Music is ja nicht auf Erden").
The soprano is quite lovely and "creamy" sounding in the last movement, but the orchestral interruptions are so extreme as to sound like we've suddenly moved into another piece of music. Again, compare these passages with Stenz, where the orchestral outburst sound much more integrated with the vocal stanzas, yet the woodwinds are far more forward in the balances (except for the shrieking piccolo, which always cuts through). And, once again, the final stanzas - beautiful as they are - are taken a bit too slowly for my liking as well (talking about Honeck and Maazel).
If all this sounds like a put-down, please understand that I'm comparing this to my very favorite recordings of M4. I could very easily live with the Honeck, but I'm quite happy with the Previn/Pittsburgh M4 as well. Truthfully, you can't lose with any of these.
